The importance of Robert E Lee s first movement north of the Potomac River in September 1862 is difficult to overstate After his string of successes in Virginia, a decisive Confederate victory in Maryland or Pennsylvania may well have spun the war in an entirely different direction Why he and his

Cassie Kendrick is on the run Her abusive father arranged her marriage to a despicable man, but she s discovered an escape Disguised as a man, Cassie enlists in the Union army, taking the name Thomas Turner On the battlefields of the Civil War, keeping her identity a secret is only the beginning

The bestselling author of Yellow Crocus returns with a haunting and tender story of three women returning to the plantation they once called home Oberlin, Ohio, 1868 Lisbeth Johnson was born into privilege in the antebellum South Jordan Freedman was born a slave to Mattie, Lisbeth s beloved nurse

Stunning Oliveira writes with feeling The New York Times Book Review An engrossing story that feel utterly timely People, The Best New Books New York, 1879 An epic blizzard descends on Albany, devastating the city When the snow finally settles, two newly orphaned girls are m

A richly layered, emotional novel about one woman s courage and the choices she must make in the face of a dangerous war Caroline is the young wife of Jacob, who together live on a farm raising their daughter just outside of Gettysburg When Jacob joins the Northern army, no one anticipates he will

In his powerful fourth novel, Charles Frazier returns to the time and place of Cold Mountain, vividly bringing to life the chaos and devastation of the Civil War With her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects a

When two Union soldiers stumble onto a plantation in northern Georgia on a warm May day in 1864, the last thing they expect is to see the Union flag flying high or to be greeted by a group of freed slaves and their Jewish mistress Little do they know that this place has an unusual history.Twelve ye

Abigail Milton was born into the British middle class, but her family has landed in unthinkable debt To ease their burdens, Abby s parents send her to America to live off the charity of their old friend, Douglas Elling When she arrives in Charleston at the age of seventeen, Abigail discovers that

The true story of Abraham Lincoln s last murder trial, a strange case in which he had a deep personal involvement and which was played out in the nation s newspapers as he began his presidential campaign.At the end of the summer of 1859, twenty two year old Peachy Quinn Harrison went on trial for m

It s 1864 in downtrodden Lowell, Massachusetts The Civil War has taken its toll on the town leaving the economy in ruin and its women in dire straits That is, until Asa Mercer arrives on a peculiar, but providential, errand he seeks high minded women who can exert an elevating influence in Seattl

Beloved best selling author Tony Horwitz retraces Frederick Law Olmsted s epic journey across the American South in the 1850s, as he too searches for common ground in a dangerously riven nation On the eve of the Civil War, an up and coming newspaper, the New York Times, sent a young travel writer t

A Marriage of Convenience Turns Most Inconvenient in this Historical Charmer Having fled a difficult home life, Civil War nurse Abigail Stuart feels like her only friend in the world is sweet but gravely wounded patient Jeremiah Calhoun Fearing he won t survive, the Confederate soldier s last wish

As a young man, Frederick Douglass 1818 1895 escaped from slavery in Balti, Maryland He was fortunate to have been taught to read by his slave owner mistress, and he would go on to become one of the major literary figures of his time His very existence gave the lie to slave owners with dign

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE All I had known for certain when I came around the hen house that first evening in July and saw my husband trudging into the yard after lifetimes spent away from us, a borrowed bag in his hand and the shadow of grief on his face, was that he h

Are leaders born or made Where does ambition come from How does adversity affect the growth of leadership Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Frankli